Where am I
by The Fifth Champion
Summary: Marik has no idea where he is. One minute he was dueling Yami, and now he's in this strange empty void. As he walks onward, images of his past fly before his eyes...


Disclaimer: I don't not own Yu-Gi-Oh and am only writing this story for my own amusement.

Author's note: Hi to all!!!! I'm really new here, and I can't wait until people start reading my stories! I'm really sorry if a lot of the information is inaccurate. You see, I've only seen the American version, so I've gotten most of my information from off the web. I haven't even seen all the episodes yet, so please deal with my ignorance. I'm pretty sure nothing near this happened on Battle Ship, so just use your imagination. I would really appreciate it if you would comment my stories, but please NO FLAMES!!!! You can give me constructive criticism if you want though. And with that, here's the story!

**Where Am I?**

...where am I? Surly this isn't home. Icy darkness surrounds me, enveloping me in this strange empty void. Shadows press hard against my eyes and I can't see. When I call out for help, no one hears me. Instead, my own voice echos back my pleas, almost as if the place itself is mocking me.

I'm alone.

Then again, I was always alone...even when I _was_ home, if you consider it a home...I wouldn't know...

Sometimes...I'm home again...

A large lantern hung from the middle of the small chamber, casting a pool of yellowish light onto the mud stone walls. The light seems ominous for some reason. Maybe because I associate it with this place, and nothing good ever seemed to come out of here. The air's hot, humid and stuffy. There are no windows to open. The chamber is under ground. A thick layer of silver dust is spread across everything, and when it's swept off the furniture it flies into the air, making me occasionally cough. The room I'm in is empty. A hard, scratchy, mattress is placed in the corner, and pairs of tattered, faded clothes are shoved under it. But this is all. I'm sitting on the mattress, dreaming, wishing... Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to go outside. I'm never outside. I'm here, chained, imprisoned, locked... Ishizu and Rishid can leave here. They get to feel the wind. I always wondered what a breeze would feel like. I'll probably never know. My father says I'm different from them. I have to stay in here and watch over the Pharaoh's tombs. He says he has special plans for me. I don't know what they are, and he never tells me. So I just sit in this dark room, not daring to disobey my father's orders. I sit here quietly, and watch the candlelight flicker on the walls.

But it's not always like this. Because sometimes... I'm outside again...

I had finally broke down and sped out the door. Nobody's home. My father can't catch me and punish-hurt-me for being out here. I love my brother and sister, but they think the daylight is too dangerous for me. They see what father dose to me when I get in trouble. I can never hide my bruises from Ishizu's blue eyes. And then when Rishid confronts my father, he gets hurt too, which makes me feel worse. I think the feeling I have for them is love...love, it sounds like some sort of far away fairytale. I feel guilty knowing that they wouldn't like me being out here, but it will only be for a minute. Just a minute, that's all. I couldn't take being in there anymore. I couldn't take the walls that leered at me from all sides, cursing and laughing. I won't tell Ishizu and Rishid I went outside. I don't want them to worry.

The wind is calm and pleasant. Is washes across my face like cool, soft velvet. My blonde hair ripples in the breeze. I laugh out loud, my arms outstretched, eyes drinking in every aspect of the beautiful, blue sky. It went on for miles...never ending... I wish I was a bird soaring through that sky. I could fly away, and no walls would ever be able to stop me. I'd leave all my troubles behind...and be a whole different person.

But I'm not always there.

I'm in an empty room now. I've been here hundreds of times before, but today it seems strange, eerie, and unfamiliar. Cold sweat trickles down my face, though it's not from heat. In fact, the room's freezing, as cold as ice. Strange how the same room I thought I would die of heat in feels like I could now catch hypothermia in. But my mind isn't on that thought. In the next room, I could hear my sister wailing to RishidI can't believe this! Our brother...our _brother!_I can't believe that our own father did this to him!" I hear my adopted brother try to comfort her, but Ishizu throws all his words back in his face. There's nothing calming to be said. I try to shut out her words, clapping my hands over my ears, but they come anyway. The come and make the pain even worse then it already is. I slowly bring my hand back to my painfully aching back. It was bandaged tightly, though I could still feel the blood trickling through it. My fingers trace over the symbols that have been etched into my back...

But in a flash of light I'm gone from there. I'm running now. Running far, far away from everything. Deep, freezing horror and confusion chills my insides. I can hear my sister and brother calling for me to return, but I ignore them and run onward. Nothing can change what I did. No words can ever console me. I can't cause anymore damage. I've already caused so much, even though it didn't feel I did anything. No, it had felt like somebody else had taken a hold of my body. It felt like a presence...a presence that had awoke deep inside of me. But that's insane. Just a meaningless lie I've come up with to hide the guilt, no matter how real it seems.

I've been running for what seems like miles. I stop, panting, and collapse on the sandy ground. Why is my life cursed like this? Why am I forced to be inflicted with so much pain? If I had any tears left, I would cry. It's so unfair. One thought flickers through my mind. The pharaoh. He's really the spirit of a teenager. A teenager, just like me, though he's the complete opposite of me in every way. White hot anger and jealousy flares my insides. His clothes must be rich and shining, while mine are tattered and mud stained. He must be well fed and nourished. I was always hungry. He was free, able to go _anywhere_, do _anything._ I lived in a small underground chamber, and never saw daylight.

No, the pharaoh didn't care in the slightest bit about any people like _me._He didn't care about peasants. Burning anger licks my insides. All the pharaoh cared about was himself. He didn't deserve to be pharaoh.._I did..._

And so my quest for vengeance, my quest to do _justice _in the world began.

I found one of the millennium items in my home a long time ago. My father had been keeping it for one reason or another. I don't know how it came to me, but I had suddenly found it clutched in my hand after running away. The millennium rod, holding the power to control people's minds. With this I would fulfill the prophecy I had heard about since I've been a little boy. I would duel the pharaoh and obtain his ancient power. Then _I _would be pharaoh. As time went on, I found myself blaming the pharaoh for all of the pains I ever felt. He had everything, and I had nothing. I found that my suffering subsided very slightly when I blamed someone on it. But what I didn't know was as all this hatred grew inside of me, an evil presence, one that I didn't believe existed, became even stronger inside of me, feeding off my anger. But I was ignorant, and never knew.

I'm on a swaying Battle Ship now. The violent waves crash forcefully against the steel bottom. The sky is like a deep, black swirling pit. The icy wind lashes across my face. Salty mist sprays me, but I'm not concentrating on any of this. Before me stands the person I've loathed my whole life, Pharaoh Yami. Though it's only a card game, my breath is ragged in determination. Fools cheer for the pathetic pharaoh on the side line. I try to block them out, they mean nothing. They don't understand. Why else would they cheer for such a selfish, self centered pharaoh? The pharaoh calls on one of his most powerful monsters, and I reach to my deck to take my own cards. Suddenly my fingers twitch. Ignoring it, I reach for the card, but my hand begins to shake. Then I realize something.

I'm not the one making my hand shake.

A familiar feeling washes over me. The same feeling that had come over me years ago, right before I ran away. Like a dark presence inside of me was awaking. Terror takes hold of me, and I try to gain control over myself. It couldn't happen again. Not after what I did the last time...no...not after what I did...murder... I put my head in my hands and try to knock out the other presence's mind. But it only grows stronger. I can hear a mad, bone chilling laugh somewhere near by. I'm screaming now, screaming as loud as I possible can. "Somebody, help...Ishizu, Rishid, help..."But then everything goes black, and I'm here again. In this empty void, with no one and nothing.

Where am I?


End file.
